Frequently Asked Questions
TitleSouth® Real Estate Closing Center
Q: What do you charge for closings?
A: Our current rates for closings are:
TITLESOUTH REAL ESTATE CLOSING CENTER |
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Transaction Type |
TitleSouth Closing Center Fee |
Law Office of Patrick Smith Doc Prep Fee |
Sale with First Mortgage |
$575.00 |
$50.00 |
Second Mortgage on Sale |
$200.00 |
$25.00 |
Refinance - First Mortgage |
$500.00 |
$50.00 |
Refinance - Second Mortgage |
$200.00 |
$25.00 |
Cash Sale |
$350.00 |
$50.00 |
In addion to the above charges, we recover the following costs incurred by the Closing Center: |
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Q: Are your fees competitive?
A: We believe that our fees are in line and competitive with other closing agents and closing attorneys in the Birmingham area. There are closing agents and closing attorneys in the area who charge significantly more than we charge, and those who charge less than we charge.
However, we chose to concentrate on the level of service and the value provided rather than cutting the price of our services. Warren Buffett is quoted as saying “Price is what you pay. Value is what you receive.” We focus on providing an excellent value at a competitive price.
Q: Are closings at the Closing Center conducted by attorneys?
A: In recognition that realtors in the Birmingham area are accustomed to attorneys performing their closings, all closings conducted by the TitleSouth Real Estate Closing Center will be performed by an attorney, unless you agree that the closing can be performed by one of the Closing Center’s experienced Closing Administrators.
Q: What if we need additional legal documents drafted in connection with the closing or to meet requirements on the title commitment?
A: The TitleSouth Real Estate Closing Center is not a law office, and its employees may not prepare legal documents or give legal advice. However, the same attorney responsible for drafting the note, mortgage and deed generally can draft any necessary additional legal documents. The cost of preparing these documents will be determined by the attorney, and payment for those services will be paid directly to the attorney at or before closing. If you want to use another attorney to draft additional required legal documents, those documents should be provided to the Closing Center and the title company prior to execution to ensure that they meet the title company’s requirements to clear the particular exception to which they apply.
Q: Do we have to use TitleSouth for our title insurance to close at the Closing Center?
A: If you have a title commitment from a title company other than TitleSouth, call us. We generally are able to close on title commitments issued by title companies other than TitleSouth, but we often need some additional time to obtain approval from that title company’s state office.
Q: Will you come to our office to do closings?
A: We can come to your office to do a closing when our schedule permits – generally during early and mid-month, we should be able to accommodate such a request. At the end of the month, however, it may be difficult for us to come to your office for a closing.
Q: Can you do “remote” or “mail-away” closings?
A: Under most circumstances, we can arrange this, but we ask that you give us as much advance notice as possible whenever a buyer or seller cannot attend the closing.
Q. Will you take a personal check from the purchasers?
A. We require “good funds” in the form of an incoming wire transfer or a cashier’s check drawn on a local financial institution. We will accept personal checks for small sums due to last minute changes to the closing costs. Contact the Closing Center for more information.
Q: Where are your offices located?
A: Our first office is located in the Mountain Brook Center Building at 2700 Hwy 280 East, Suite 315W, Birmingham, AL 35223. Our second office is in the Dolly Creek Shopping Center on at 2409 Acton Road, Suite 109, Birmingham, AL 35243 (in the same shopping center as the RealtySouth OTM – Acton Road Office). The Shelby County Closing Center is located at 3170 Highway 31 South, Pelham, AL 35124 (in the same building as the Shelby County RealtySouth office).
Here is a tip on parking at the Mountain Brook Center: take the ramp up to the second level of the parking deck (the ramp is just past the building as you drive into the parking lot) and park outside the second-floor door. You can enter the building on the second floor then take the elevator up the third floor.
Q: I’ve heard people mention something called “SureClose.” What is that?
A: SureClose is a real estate transaction management platform that allows TitleSouth and the Closing Center to file all documents produced or provided in connection with a title commitment or closing in a secure, web-based platform where the documents are filed by file number and made available to all participants in the closing. SureClose makes our closing file your closing file.
Q: How does SureClose help me as a Realtor® or lender?
A: When you set up a closing with the TitleSouth Real Estate Closing Center, you will receive a login name and password (which you can change the first time you log in) and every time a document is received and filed in SureClose, you will receive an email or fax notification (as you prefer) that the document was received. You can review all of these documents and check the status of your closing any time at the TitleSouth SureClose web site.
Q: Does SureClose do anything for my customers?
A: Yes! Upon your request, your customers also will receive a user name and password, and also will receive an email or fax notification whenever any document relevant to their side of the closing is filed. They can view the documents on-line, in real time, and provide you and us with immediate feedback if anything needs to be changed or corrected. SureClose involves the buyer and seller in the closing process as never before by making the process transparent and interactive.
After the closing, all the signed closing documents are filed in SureClose and remain available to you, the buyer and the seller. If you need a copy of the HUD next year, or if the buyer needs a copy of his Owner’s Title Insurance Policy after the closing, you can contact us and we can retrieve it from our SureClose archive.
Q: Won’t letting both the buyer and seller have access to the SureClose file cause a privacy problem?
A: No – not every party has access to every document in the SureClose file. We set permissions for each person to ensure that parties see only those documents that are relevant to their side of the closing. Some documents, like the HUD-1, are available to all parties. Other documents, like the borrower’s closing package, are available only to the buyer/borrower while others, like the seller’s payoff statements, are available only to the seller.
Q: What makes the TitleSouth Real Estate Closing Center so special?
A: First, the physical facilities at each Closing Center location were conceived, planned, designed, and equipped with one, singular purpose in mind – to build the finest real estate closing facility in the Birmingham area. The furniture, equipment, software and layout all were selected to enhance the closing process and make closings more efficient for the participants and staff and more pleasant for buyers, sellers and lenders.
Next, we perform only one service – real estate closings – and we constantly review our policies, procedures, software and equipment to ensure that we are employing industry-best practices in the delivery of that service.
Finally, the key to any service business is the people that deliver the service. The professional staff of the TitleSouth Real Estate Closing Center was selected because of their knowledge, skills and experience. They are committed to performing their jobs in an efficient and professional manner but with a lighthearted, humorous and pleasant demeanor that helps buyers and sellers relax and enjoy the closing process. After all, closing is one time when almost everyone gets something they want – the buyer gets a new house, the seller sells a house that they want or need to sell, and the realtor completes a successful sales transaction.
After closing, we want to know how we did. After the closing, we invite agents to participate in an on-line satisfaction survey so that you can provide us with feedback about your experiences at the TitleSouth Closing Center. If you have a pleasant experience at the Closing Center we want to know about it. If we fail, for any reasons, to live up to your expectations, we want to know about it even more.
